Module support

ABSTRACT

A module support having two parallel cross struts which are interconnected by guide rails which have a guide fixture wherein printed circuit boards can be displaced in a longitudinal direction of the guide rails. One or more air guides are arranged at the side of the guide rails and the air guide of a guide rail which is not occupied by a printed circuit board can be covered with a cover. The guide rail can be connected to the cover by detent connections in order to produce a preassembled unit. As a result, the assembly of this cover is simplified.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates to a module support or a component support withtwo transverse struts parallel with each other and connected with eachother by guide rails. The guide rails have a guide receiver, in whichprinted circuit boards can be displaced in a longitudinal direction ofthe guide rails. One or several air guide elements are arrangedlaterally of the guide rail and the air guide element of a guide railwhich is not occupied by a printed circuit board can be covered with acover.

2. Description of Related Art

Such a component support is known from German Patent Reference DE 38 37029 C2. The covers in this component support is designed hood-like. Thecovers have a cover section, on which a guide strip is fastened. Theguide strip engages the guide receiver of the guide rail.

The cover section has a vertical holding element extending up to thetransverse struts. Rows of fastening receivers are cut into thetransverse struts, wherein the fastening receivers are spaced apart fromeach other in a separating grid. The holding element of the cover hasfastening projections which can be inserted into the fastening receiversof the transverse strut. The attachment of the covers to the transversestruts is particularly difficult in case of limited space conditions inthe component support. For fixing the covers in place, fasteningprojections of the holding elements must be attached on the front, aswell as on the rear transverse strut. The insertion of the rearfastening projection into the associated fastening receiver entailsdifficulties.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is one object of this invention to provide a component support of thetype mentioned above but wherein a simple attachment of the cover on theguide rail is possible.

This object is attained with a guide rail that can be combined with thecover into a preassembled unit with snap-in connectors.

It is possible with this design to position the cover together with theguide rail and to fasten them in one work step. Nevertheless, whenrequired, the cover can be easily removed from the guide rail, for whichthe snap-in connection must be released.

In accordance with one preferred embodiment of this invention, at endsof the guide receiver the guide rail is widened in the longitudinaldirection of the transverse struts by two projections. The guidereceiver and the projections laterally limit the air guide element andthe cover has a plate covering the air guide element. To prevent aprinted circuit board from being inadvertently inserted into the guidereceiver when the cover is placed on the guide receiver, the cover hasone or two projections which extend over ends of the guide receiver.

So that the available structural space in the component support is notrestricted because of the cover, in accordance with this invention thecover has a strip which is laterally placed against the guide receiverand a structural height of the cover does not exceed the structuralheight of the guide receiver.

The embodiment of the snap-in connection can be such that two snap-inelements, which face each other, are formed on the cover and the guiderail has two openings, which are used as air guidance, engaged bysnap-in elements snapping into the openings.

So that the cover can be rapidly and simply released from the guiderail, the cover can have a tool holding fixture and/or a handle.

Preferably, a width of the cover extending in the direction of thetransverse struts is equal to or less than the width of the guide rail.

To assure a simple and exactly fitting mounting of the cover on theguide rail, the cover has guide projections which align the cover on theguide rail prior to the snapped-in engagement of the snap-in connection.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

This invention will be explained in greater detail in view of anexemplary embodiment represented in the drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 shows two transverse struts of a component support, as well as aguide rail and a cover, in an exploded perspective view;

FIG. 2 shows the cover mounted on the guide rail in a perspective view;and

FIG. 3 shows the component represented in FIG. 2, complemented byrepresentation of a tool.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Two transverse supports 10 of a component support are shown in FIG. 1and are embodied as extruded profiled sections which can be cut off froma semi-finished profiled section. Each of the transverse struts 10 has ascrew channel 12 extending in the longitudinal direction of the profiledsection. The rear transverse strut 10 has a rear holder 10, on whichprofiled plastic sections can be fastened. The profiled plastic sectionsare used for insulated installation of rear plate elements. The fronttransverse strut 10 has an undercut groove 14, on which attachments canbe fixed. Each of the two transverse struts 10 has a snap-in edge 15facing the interior of the component support. The transverse struts 10have rows of fastening receivers 11 in the area of the snap-in edges 15,wherein the fastening receivers are arranged spaced apart from eachother in a separating grid. The rows of fastening receivers 11 extend inthe longitudinal direction of the transverse struts 10.

Guide rails 20 can be fastened on the fastening receivers 11. The guiderails 20 have a support section 21 which extends in the direction of thedepth of the component support. The support section 21 has a guidereceiver 22 designed with a U-shaped cross section and used forreceiving printed circuit boards. Projections 24 are arranged at ends ofthe support section 21. The support section 21 is widened in thedirection of the longitudinal extension of the transverse struts 10 bymeans of the projections 24. Pins 25 and snap-in projections 26 areformed on the projections 24. The pins 25 and snap-in projections 26project in the direction toward the transverse struts 10. Two pins 25and one snap-in projection 26 are provided per projection 24. Formounting the guide rail 20 on the transverse struts 10, the pins 25 areinserted into the fastening receivers 11. In the inserted state, thesnap-in projections 26 are snapped in behind the snap-in edges 15 of thetransverse struts 10.

The projections 24 and the support section 21 or the guide receiver 22delimit an air guide element 27. Also, openings are provided in theprojections 24, which can also be used for air guidance. These air guideelements are also used as snap-in receivers for fixing a cover 30 inplace. The air guide elements 27 and the snap-in receivers 23 are usedfor supplying the printed circuit card, which is inserted into the guidereceiver 22, continuously with air. In case no printed circuit card isinserted into the guide receiver 22, the air guide elements 27 or 23 canbe covered by means of the cover 30.

The cover 30 has a horizontal plate 31, which is followed by a verticalstrip 32. The plate 31 has closing walls 36 at both ends on thelongitudinal side. The closing walls 36 extend in the horizontaldirection past the strip 32 and in this way form lateral protrusions 33.The closing walls 36 have tool holding fixtures 35 in the area of theplate 31. The tool holding fixtures 35 are designed as openings. Guideprojections 34 are arranged between the tool holding fixtures 35 and theprotrusions 33.

Two snap-in elements 37 are formed as one piece with the cover 30 on theunderside of the plate 31. The snap-in elements 37 have snap-inprotrusions facing each other.

The snap-in elements 37 are inserted into the snap-in receivers 23 forfastening the cover 30 on the guide rail 20. During this, the snap-inprotrusions of the snap-in elements 27 are deflected at the edge of thesnap-in receiver 23 until they snap in behind it. When inserting thesnap-in elements 37 and prior to the snapping-in occurring, the guideprojections 34 are laterally aligned on the guide receivers 22, as shownin FIGS. 2 and 3. Because of this alignment, a precisely fittingmounting of the cover 30 becomes easily possible. In the mounted state,the strip 32 of the cover 30 rests laterally against the guide receiver22. The plate 31 covers the air guide element 27 or the snap-in receiver23.

FIG. 2 shows that the width of the cover 30 corresponds to the width ofthe guide rail 20. The cover 30 can be preassembled together with theguide rail 20 to form a unit, which can be mounted as such in thecomponent support. If a printed circuit card is inserted into the guiderail 20, the cover 30 can be easily removed. Two variations of this,which permit a simple removal of the cover 30, are shown in FIGS. 2 and3. In accordance with FIG. 2, a handle 35.1 is formed in the area of thetool holding fixture 35 for this purpose. The handle 35.1 is designed asa flap, which projects at right angles from the closing wall 36. Afinger can be inserted underneath the handle 35.1, and the cover 30 canthen be lifted, during which the snap-in elements 37 disengage from thesnap-in receivers 23. Removal of the cover 30 is also possible by meansof a tool which can be inserted into the tool holding fixture 35. Thecover 30 can then be levered up, wherein the tool is supported on thefront of the guide rail. With the embodiment in accordance with FIG. 3,a screwdriver 40 can be used as the tool, which is inserted into thetool holding fixture 35. The cover 30 can be levered up with thescrewdriver 40.

What is claimed is:
 1. In a component support having two transversestruts which are parallel with each other and are connected with eachother by guide rails, wherein each of the guide rails has a guidereceiver in which a printed circuit board can be displaced in a firstlongitudinal direction of the guide rails, wherein at least one airguide element is arranged laterally of each of the guide rails, andwherein the at least one air guide element of one of the guide railswhich is not occupied by the printed circuit board can be covered with acover, the improvement comprising: the guide rail (20) having a snap-inreceiver (23) and the cover having a snap-in element (37) forming eachof a plurality of snap-in connectors that fasten the guide rail (20) tothe cover (30) to form a preassembled unit with the cover blocking airpassage through the air guide element.
 2. In the component support inaccordance with claim 1, wherein the cover (30) has at least oneprojection (33) which extends over an end of the guide receiver (22). 3.In the component support in accordance with claim 1, wherein the cover(30) has a strip (32) laterally placed against the guide receiver (22)and a first structural height of the strip (32) is less than a secondstructural height of the guide receiver (22).
 4. In the componentsupport in accordance with claim 1, wherein two of the snap-in elements(37) which face each other are formed on the cover (30), and the guiderail (20) has two openings (23) used as air guidance into which thesnap-in elements (37) are engaged.
 5. In the component support inaccordance with claim 1, wherein the cover (30) has at least one of atool holding fixture (35) and a handle (35.1) for releasing a snapped-inengagement between the cover (30) and the guide rail (20).
 6. In thecomponent support in accordance with claim 1, wherein a width of thecover (30) extending in a direction of the transverse struts (10) isequal to or less than a width of the guide rail (20).
 7. In thecomponent support in accordance with claim 1, wherein the cover (30) hasguide projections (34) which align the cover (30) on the guide rail (20)prior to a snapped-in engagement between the cover (30) and the guiderail (32).
 8. In the component support in accordance with claim 1,wherein the cover (30) is formed as one of an injection molded elementand an extruded plastic element.
 9. In a component support having twotransverse struts which are parallel with each other and are connectedwith each other by guide rails, wherein each of the guide rails has aguide receiver in which a printed circuit board can be displaced in afirst longitudinal direction of the guide rails, wherein at least oneair guide element is arranged laterally of each of the guide rails, andwherein the at least one air guide element of one of the guide railswhich is not occupied by the printed circuit board can be covered with acover, the improvement comprising: the guide rail (20) having a snap-inreceiver (23) and the cover having a snap-in element (37) forming eachof a plurality of snap-in connectors combining the guide rail (20) tothe cover (30) to form a preassembled unit, wherein at opposing ends ofa guide receiver (22) the guide rail (20) is widened in a secondlongitudinal direction of transverse struts (10) by two projections(24), the guide receiver (22) and the projections (24) laterally limitthe air guide element (27), and the cover has a plate (31) covering theair guide element (27).
 10. In the component support in accordance withclaim 9, wherein the cover (30) has at least one projection (33) whichextends over one of the ends of the guide receiver (22).
 11. In thecomponent support in accordance with claim 10, wherein the cover (30)has a strip (32) laterally placed against the guide receiver (22) and afirst structural height of the strip (32) is less than a secondstructural height of the guide receiver (22).
 12. In the componentsupport in accordance with claim 11, wherein two of the snap-in elements(37) which face each other are formed on the cover (30), and the guiderail (20) has two openings (23) used as air guidance into which thesnap-in elements (37) are engaged.
 13. In the component support inaccordance with claim 12, wherein the cover (30) has at least one of atool holding fixture (35) and a handle (35.1) for releasing a snapped-inengagement between the cover (30) and the guide rail (32).
 14. In thecomponent support in accordance with claim 13, wherein a width of thecover (30) extending in a direction of the transverse struts (10) isequal to or less than a width of the guide rail (20).
 15. In thecomponent support in accordance with claim 14, wherein the cover (30)has guide projections (34) which align the cover (30) on the guide rail(20) prior to the snapped-in engagement.
 16. In the component support inaccordance with claim 15, wherein the cover (30) is formed as one of aninjection molded element and an extruded plastic element.